A Dozen Red Roses for My Darling
by Writing for Anonymous
Summary: There were exactly twelve roses in the hold of paper and a bright scarlet bow, for the one who he adored with nearly every known bone and muscle of his body but at the same time, despised with every bone in his body.


There were exactly twelve roses in the hold of paper and a bright scarlet bow, for the one who he adored with nearly every known bone and muscle of his body but at the same time, despised with every bone in his body. She was the secret love of his life, and no one else knew about it. Each one- each twelve- was a delicate burgundy color, and smelled as fresh as if they were newly picked. They had been chosen for her on his island, plucked from their original place to his gloved hand. Hopefully she would approve of them. It _was_ Valentine's Day, after all.

He had started to glide above Station Square just past twelve and headed for her apartment that she shared with Shadow. His dreadlocks flared behind him as he searched for the complex, the bouquet tightly in his grip but not too tight so as not to break any of them in his usually harsh hold.

He finally spotted the window he was searching for, and landed in front of the door. Taking a breath, he raised his hand to knock, but then stopped and let his hand fall back to his side.

_What in the name of Chaos are you doing? You're supposed to be delivering her the flowers. What's making you have second thoughts?_

Who ever thought of the idea of a conscious? His had been "bugging" him more than usual lately, nagging him to pick a dozen red roses for his darling, eventually convincing him to give up and pick the damn plant life for her, from the very roots of his island. Which, he had promised himself earlier, he would never, ever, _EVER_ do again, no matter who it was for.

_What if Shadow answers? _He started to ponder._ Or what if she hates them?_ The hand not gripping the flowers tightened ever so faintly. _Why think that, you idiot of a Knucklehead? She obviously loves you; you can see it in her eyes._

He eyed the structure of the complex, and devised a plan as quick as he could. He grabbed a small stone hastily from the ground, eyeing what he believed was the right window to the apartment and, hoping it was the right one, tossed it there perfectly.

Although he used some of his strength on it, the pebble smashed through the window and landed somewhere in the apartment itself. Startled, he quickly looked for somewhere to run or hide. He wouldn't be fast enough to escape.

The small balcony-like sliding door opened, and permitted the Mobian to step out. The ebony hedgehog looked around for the sign of the attacker, and, when he saw none, examined the hole in the glass. He scoffed at its appearance, not at all surprise ;of course he would make the hole. With another glance at the empty parking lot for any sign of the guardian, he stepped back into the shared apartment and closed the door behind him.

Knuckles burrowed out of the dirt quickly and dusted the flowers free of any dirt. He got the right window, and now he just had to climb up and present to her the flowers. But if Shadow was there, then what were the chances that he would answer and not her? There was a 50/50 chance, of course, so it could go either way.

He stored the roses in his dreadlocks for a second and scaled the pillar on the apartment with his fists. In only three seconds, he had hopped up onto the "balcony". The Guardian pulled the flowers out of his dreadlocks and looked at them one more time. Spare of any mishaps, they looked like the perfect flowers to give any girl of his choice. But he chose this one: his total and complete opposite.

_This is so unlike me- heh, giving Batgirl my flowers off _my _island. What made me stoop this low?_

Knuckles was still debating on whether or not he should just present them to her or to just drop the flowers there and run. This was hard- face the chances of handing them to her best friend, or leave them to make her wonder who they belonged to.

He dropped the flowers by the glass door; Shadow was inside, reading, with his back to the door, so he didn't notice. He was most likely waiting for Rouge so they could leave for work. He lightly tapped on the glass door, knowing he was crazy for doing this.

* * *

Rouge arrived on Angel Island around midnight. She hadn't made her usual rounds to try and steal the Emerald for the rest of the day; in fact, sometimes she would just visit to bother him.

But this time, it was to talk.

Knuckles was lightly snoring in the soft yet illuminating glow of Master Emerald. She smiled softly at his peaceful appearance, and wondered how somehow that aggressive like him could look so…serene and actually _handsome_ when sleeping. Maybe because he was more carefree and wasn't defending anything against her, and he didn't have to put up the brick wall that he always built in front of anyone, threat or not.

She delicately placed her hand on his cheek softly. He stirred, and rested again with a sigh. A giggle escaped from her mouth.

"What is it that you want, Batgirl?"

She pulled her hand away a little too quickly, trying to hide the fact that she was adoring his appearance. "Why did you leave those flowers at the door?"

"I wouldn't answer even if I had a clue on what you were talking about." The bat tilted her head slightly, and he scoffed, almost laughed, at her. "What are you talking about?"

"You left a dozen red roses at the backdoor of my apartment." He simpered. "Someone- supposedly you- knocked on the glass and escaped before we could see you. Shadow answered the door, saw you weren't there, and came back and handed me the roses, saying they were for me."

"He probably gave them to you." He turned to his side to go to sleep once again. "Rouge, do you really think I would leave my island to deliver flowers to _you_? I don't leave in the first place, so why would leaving just to give you flowers make a difference?"

"They had that smell of yours, though. I…I knew as soon as I smelled them that they had been from you." Knuckles cursed himself under his breath; of course she would know that.

"It's not my fault I can't stop getting you out of my head." He rolled onto his back to gaze at the millions of stars in the sky above them.

The rogue thief was silent at first, but then smiled small and lay down beside him. "Nice view."

"Thanks."

"I should come here at night more often."

"I'll still stop you from stealing the Emerald."

"I wasn't talking about coming here to steal, Knucklehead." She flicked the space right between his eyes and he grunted in annoyance. "I meant to keep you company."

"Like you would actually do that."

"I would." She stood up from his side, dusting herself off thoroughly. "Just you watch. I'll be back tomorrow night."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Well then I'll be here waiting for you."

Rouge laughed. "Aren't you always?" She leant down, kissing the tip of his nose and then his lips. She stayed in the latter position for what felt like forever but was really a few seconds. She pulled back and was off before she could make her embarrassment known to him.

When she was out of sight, Knuckles touched where her lips had landed, and, as he realized what she had done exactly and that he had actually liked it, he smiled. Maybe he was being sarcastic when he said he would be waiting. To be honest, he didn't know himself. Either way, he'd be expecting her, and he would make sure that it wasn't for the worse.

Love comes in many forms, but it must come to you first before you can pursue its true form.

* * *

**Hello! Lady Skarlett here :) I hope you enjoyed this oneshot! "Defenders of Mobius" will be up as soon as I have time to go through and edit it.**

**Reviews definitely help me if you enjoyed :) I own nothing here, all characters go to SEGA. The title of the story is also a Queen song.**

**~Lady Skarlett**


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